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Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old

Testament (Oxford, UK: Monarch Books and Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2006), 160 pp., paperback, ISBN: 978-1-85424-7025, GB7.99/US$15.00.
It is appropriate for Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old
Testament to start the first chapter citing Gen. 1:1-2 and have a title
The Creating Spirit. Christopher J. H. Wright sees the Spirit of God,
who is usually linked with Pentecost, in the second verse of the
Bible. (13) For him the Spirit and the universe is about the Spirit as
hovering and speaking. Wright views Gen. 1:1, which is the gateway
statement of the Hebrew Scriptures, as an essential declaration that the
whole universe came into existence because God was the creator. Then,
Gen. 1:2, the second verse, continues to present the very first portrayal
of creation in its earliest phase with an imagery of chaos and
darkness. Although the raw material was present in the beginning it
has not yet been shaped to the world we now know. (14) God,
through his own ruach, transforms the as yet unformed substance from
being formless, chaotic and dark, to universe. The Deut. 32:11 clause
about an eagle hovering over its young talks about Gods protection of
Israel is the sense of the Spirits hovering ready for creative activity.
(14)
The discussion about the Spirit and the earth, which is the
subtitle of the section Sustaining and Renewing, deals with ecology.
Old Testament Israelites did not spend a lot of time wondering about
how the world began, except that it began by Gods say-so. Once they
had affirmed that in Genesis 1-2, enough seemed to have been said.
(19) For Wright, the Spirit can be grieved by intentional and casual
damage made to the good earth which is beautifully made and kept
going by God himself. (25-26) The Spirit and humanity are
contradictory corollary of breathing and leaving because the Spirit of
God is the source of life breath but at the same time of death when he
leaves a mortal. (26-31) Another important section is the Spirit and the
new creation which is a discussion of Romans 8 from the New
Testament. The discussion of the passage is meant to have an
application of the earlier materials about creation accounts, ecological
concerns and human lives that God sustains by his Spirit to the New
Testament teaching on the new creation and the resurrection. (31-34)
Chapter 2 expounds on the idea of The Empowering Spirit.
Wright maintains that the Old Testament connects the Spirit of Yahweh
with power. (36) To demonstrate that the Spirit is Gods power doing
vocation among Israelites, a survey of the Spirits equipping work is
presented one at a time. Bezalel and Oholiab received excellent
enablement as craftsmen from the Spirit to do their work in the
sanctuary of the tabernacle. (37-39) A list of judges from Othniel to
Samson received an empowering of the Spirit to provide daring

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headship and heroic acts to defeat the enemies of Israel. (39-41) The
lives of Saul and Moses give instruction on how the Spirit of prophecy
comes to the chosen of God. However, power can bring destruction,
and so humility is a necessary balance for the experience of Gods
empowering presence. (41-61) The significant role of the Spirit when
it comes to chosen Israelites is the vocational capability to accomplish
tasks that mere human skill cannot carry out.
The next chapter puts forward the key notion of the prophetic
Spirit wherein the author asserts that: The New Testament, then,
affirms the work of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, not only in
creation (Chapter 1), not only in works of power and leadership
(Chapter 2), but also in the revelation of Gods word [Chapter 3]. (62)
The prophets were not giving their own message but they only spoke
through the Spirit. Wright invokes at this point the classical texts of the
inspired Scriptures, i.e. 2 Pet. 1:20-21 and 2 Tim. 3:16, establishing the
role of the Spirit in communicating Gods word. (62-63) He further
elaborates in most of the pages of the third chapter how the false
prophecies both in the Old and New Testaments were not really from
the prophetic Spirit of God. What is clear in contrast to the false
prophets who deceived people with lies of their own devising and never
challenged them about the rampant injustice in society, Spirit-filled
prophets spoke the truth and stood for justice. (85)
In the fourth chapter, Wright moves on to address the
anointing Spirit that empowered the historical kings of Israel such as
Saul and David. (89-92) The promised Anointed One or the
imminent Servant-King of Isaiah the prophet has the anointing that is
indispensably his commissioning to carry out Gods ultimate mission
and purpose of the worldnot just for Israel, but to the ends of the
earth (Isa. 49:6). (95) The author explains that this messianic person
will fulfill mission of God that Israel as the chosen nation was not
able to accomplish. (95-111) It is for the Christian to see Gods
anointing of Jesus Christ who has shown justice, compassion,
enlightenment, and liberation so that he can do the mission of God
to bring in every kind of people to His fold. (113-114; cf. 106-107)
Then, at the end of this chapter, Wright applied the meaning of
following Christ using the designation of the Church that received the
anointing and the commission to do the mission of God to bring the
good news to all humanity.
In the final chapter the coming Spirit of Yahweh is
associated first with the idea of recreation and righteousness. (120123) The pronouncement of judgment in Isaiah 32 is with hope of
restoration. The Spirit is an element of change in Isa. 32:15. The
metaphor of fertility is the Spirit bringing blessings of renewal. The
restitution will not happen until the ruach is poured out from heaven,
the abode of God. The Spirit is viewed in Ezekiel 36-37 as the source
of renewal and resurrection. (124-140) The transformation is caused

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by a totally obedient heart. But to have a transformed heart, a further

action of God upon Israel is to put the Spirit in them. The effect of the
Spirit will be that Israel will at last be obedient. The Spirit of God
enables the obedience that God demands. (129-130) In addition, the
Joel 2 oracle of repentance and restoration concludes all the
discussions about the Spirit of Yahweh. It is the promise of the Spirit
prophesied by Joel that was received by the Church. The blessing of
the Spirit given to the Church according to Joel is worldwide, immense
and salvific in nature. (153-159)
Although the U.K. edition does not have an index, the U.S.
one provides a handy index for biblical references. The five chapters of
the book are a series of lectures delivered in August 2004 at the New
Horizon convention in Northern Ireland.
The chapters were
expositions of biblical themes about the Spirit of God: He is the Spirit
who breathed in creation and sustains all life on earth. He is the Spirit
who empowered the mighty acts of those who served God over many
generations. He is the Spirit who spoke through the prophets, inspiring
their commitment to speak the truth and to stand for justice. He is the
Spirit who anointed the kings, and ultimately anointed Christ the
Servant-King. He is the Spirit whose coming in power was anticipated
in words of almost unimaginable cosmic transformation. And he is the
Spirit through whom the whole creation will finally be renewed in,
through, and for Christ. (10) However, the expositions are not purely
from the Old Testament. The author also worked on selected New
Testament passages to make the expounded material relate to the
Christian faith.
R.G. dela Cruz